Fools for Love
by DoofusPrime
Summary: Anya learns the nuances of a strange human tradition when she joins her boyfriend and the Scooby Gang for a meeting at Giles' place.
1. Chapter 1

**Fools for Love**, by DoofusPrime

_Notes - Hey everybody. This story's title is a joking reference to the season 5 episode 'Fool for Love', but it is set during season 4 of Buffy, soon after Faith switched bodies with Buffy and ran off to LA. That's just the background setting though, and it's mentioned in the story - no specific knowledge is needed to read. This is the first of three chapters._

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XX

Spring was in the air, and despite all the things weighing on his mind, Xander Harris was in a good mood and wanted to keep it that way. He whistled a jaunty tune which floated through the trees and mixed with the chirping of birds. Flowers bloomed, warm breezes blew, and college coeds threw frisbees back and forth on sun-drenched fields as Xander cut his way through the UC Sunnydale campus on his way to Giles' house. A Scooby Meeting had been called, and while he had been called in for a little construction work that morning, it wasn't a long shift. Now, he was free for the rest of the day.

"Hey, Harris!"

Xander turned and waved at the sight of Buffy's boyfriend approaching him from a campus building.

"What's up, Riley?"

"Just got out of a class. We're all meeting at Giles' house, right?"

"That's right!"

"Anything serious?"

"I'm guessing not," said Xander. "It sounded like your regular 'hang out and bother the stuffy English guy' kind of deal. Nothing too major."

"Good to hear."

The two of them fell in step and walked together, enjoying the scenery as they cut through a recreational area dotted with trees and benches. Giles had given Xander a call about the meeting earlier, about the same time he got off work. Calls for meetings weren't unusual, and Giles didn't sound alarmed, so Xander wasn't expecting much. His best guess was that they would be going over any updates about Faith, which – as far as he knew – were nonexistent. But at the same time, he knew he wasn't the only one who had been feeling antsy ever since Faith took Buffy's body and then made a run for it when she switched back, disappearing without a trace.

Xander was actually looking forward to the meeting. It was always nice to talk to his friends, especially when they had been getting so caught up in the college life lately. Even more than that, however, today was a special day. The month of April had begun, and Xander was looking forward to catching Anya at the meeting. He had even asked Giles if she would be there, just to make sure it was worth taking his present along instead of leaving it at his house for later.

"So what's in the box?" asked Riley, pointing at the package in Xander's hands. He pulled it a little tighter to himself, not wanting to give his surprise away.

"Nothing. Just a box. A box I'm carrying around for Anya."

"Like a present?"

Xander looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping – particularly Anya. The only people nearby were a couple of girls who only seemed interested in sunbathing. Xander also found their sunbathing very interesting, but he remembered Riley had asked him a question and tore his gaze reluctantly away. "It's something I picked up after I got off work this morning. Sort of an April Fool's joke," he admitted. "But keep it quiet, okay?"

"Uh oh," laughed Riley. "Playing a joke on the girlfriend, huh?"

"What can I say, I'm a jokester."

"You guys make a cute couple."

"Uh, thanks," said Xander. From the sound of his compliment, Xander got the impression that Riley was trying to find a charitable way to describe his relationship with Anya. He had to admit it probably seemed strange to others. It was strange enough to him, after all.

The two of them grew quiet as they left the campus grounds and took the sidewalk along a road which eventually led into the suburban Sunnydale neighborhood where Giles lived. Xander remembered when he first came to the Watcher's house; it had been strange to realize that a Sunnydale High School librarian had a life outside of school. Or any of his other teachers, for that matter.

Xander reminded himself that he and Giles were actually in a similar boat. Now that the high school had been blown sky high, Giles probably felt as out of place as Xander did. The man sure had a lot of time to research demons and ancient magics in his bachelor pad now that he wasn't tied up in library duties, after all. Sometimes he wondered what Giles did with all that free time. Now that he thought about it, maybe it wasn't really even a bachelor pad. Seeing Giles with that smoking hot girlfriend a while ago had definitely raised some questions. Xander frowned as his mind began going to a very bad place, but fortunately, Riley broke the silence.

"Hey Xander," he said, "has, uh – has Buffy said anything to you lately? I mean, about us?"

"You and the Buffster? Not that I can think of, nah. But it's not like I get the chance to talk to her anymore as much as Willow does, what with their fancy college lifestyle and all. Why do you ask?"

Riley frowned and fell silent, as if considering how to put something delicately. As Xander waited for an answer, he began to wonder if he had just unwittingly plunged himself into an awkward relationship conversation. His fears were confirmed when Riley finally spoke up.

"Things have been a little weird between us the last couple of days, ever since Faith was in her body. Let's just say that, uh – well, let's just say Faith and I got into an awkward situation, and Buffy's been kind of avoiding me ever since I told her about it. I'm just worried I might have messed things up, you know?"

Although Riley wasn't spelling out exactly what happened, the emphasis he placed on the phrase 'awkward situation' told Xander everything he needed to know. His head-over-heels crush on Buffy was a thing of the past, but Xander still felt a little awkward when he got into anything related to Buffy's love life, even if Riley seemed like a nice guy. But then, he could sympathize. Apparently Faith had a knack for getting people into 'awkward situations'. He knew _that_ from personal experience.

"Here's the deal," said Xander as he gave Riley a pat on the back, which got a confused look in return. "First of all, you didn't mess anything up. You didn't realize it was Faith in Buffy's body and not Buffy, so it's Faith's fault. That girl's a tricky one, take my word for it. Second of all, I think it's pretty natural for a situation like that to make things weird for a little while. Not to mention that Buffy has a bit of a checkered past with the guys. She's probably just a little skittish, you know? Doesn't want to be hurt again."

"Well, I definitely don't want to hurt her."

The way Riley said it was almost comically earnest, but at the same time, Xander couldn't help but believe him. "You guys'll be fine," he said. "Just give it a couple days and she'll come around. I mean, look, Riley – you're a step up from her last real boyfriend, believe me."

"Why's that?"

Xander was about to explain, but stopped himself as he realized Buffy might not be happy with him if he spilled too many details of her past relationship with Angel to an unknowing Riley. He wasn't sure just how much the two of them had shared with each other so far. Maybe it was better to stay quiet on the subject of Buffy's exes.

"Let's just say that it's nice to see her with someone who isn't Jekyll and Hyde."

Riley smiled at Xander's joke. "So, a total monster, huh? At least she wasn't dating a vampire."

The two of them laughed uproariously, although Xander's laughter was tinged with nervousness. Fortunately, after Riley's amusement died down, he didn't seem to be interested in pursuing the topic much more. Xander breathed a sigh of relief. He was happy to give Buffy's boyfriend some reassurance, but sometimes he wished he could get himself to shut up before he said too much.

Fortunately, it would only be a few minutes until they reached Giles' house. Buffy and Riley might be having their rough patch, but Xander had definitely been warming up to Anya, and he was looking forward to seeing her. She'd definitely get a kick out of his April Fool's joke.

XX

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_Notes - That's it for the first chapter. I have a couple of Angel stories up already, but this is my first story for Buffy. Hope you guys enjoyed it, and any reviews are appreciated! It looks like I got this thing up with 40 minutes to go on April Fool's Day, haha. Whew.  
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	2. Chapter 2

"Why hello, Giles!"

Giles smiled politely at Anya, who stood on his front porch with the exaggerated smile she usually used in her greetings. He stood aside and let her come through the door. "Where is Xander?" he asked, a little surprised that they weren't together, seeing as Xander had specifically asked him to make sure Anya came along to the meeting.

"I don't know. Constructing things, I suppose. Is he going to be here?"

"I believe so."

Giles returned to the living room with Anya, where the rest of the Scooby Gang – Buffy, Willow, and her friend Tara – were already waiting and chatting with each other. Giles was about to ask anyone if they wanted some tea while they waited for Xander and Riley to arrive, but before he could say anything, Anya stopped abruptly in front of him.

"Everyone," she said in an urgent voice, "I have some bad news."

Buffy looked up from her conversation as if noticing Anya for the first time. "What is it?" she asked.

"I saw Faith on the way here. She's back, and I think she's coming over here!"

The room immediately burst into activity. Buffy and Willow stood up in surprise while Tara looked nervously around. Giles made a dash for the window and parted the drapes, looking outside to see if any unwelcome visitors had already arrived. "Faith?" he said. "Are you sure?"

"I'm afraid so. She had a big knife, and boy did she look angry!"

"Buffy, weapons! I have some in the chest in the closet."

Giles returned his attention to the window as Buffy dashed over to the closet, pulling out a wooden chest where Giles kept a stash of weapons. He had weapons and various artifacts scattered throughout his home, actually, but that was the nearest available arsenal. He couldn't see anyone outside the window yet, but he knew a slayer like Faith could stay out of sight if she wanted to. Xander and Riley were nowhere to be seen, either. Hopefully they would arrive soon. Giles felt his heart thumping in his chest. As bad as it was that Faith had returned, at least she had chosen a time when they were all meeting together. Strength in numbers, thought Giles.

"Hey everybody, guess what?"

Giles ignored Anya's question and made note of Buffy, who was taking up a position near the front door. Apparently Buffy was of the opinion that Faith would make a direct entrance. She was probably right. She didn't have a weapon in hand; Giles reminded himself that she rarely used much besides a stake and her bare hands. That didn't mean he wasn't open to grabbing a weapon, though; he moved away from the window to get something from the chest. Maybe Willow and her friend could cast some kind of protection spell once Faith arrived, and if Riley got there, they'd have some more muscle. He rummaged through the weapons, picking out a nice large sword, when Anya spoke up again.

"Hey everybody!"

"Yes, Anya, what is it?"

Giles looked up at Anya, who was smiling for some inscrutable reason. He waited impatiently for her to continue. Buffy, Willow, and Tara had also given her their attention. Just as Giles felt his irritation beginning to rise, Anya stifled a laugh and threw her hands into the air.

"April fools!"

The living room was silent for what seemed like forever. Finally, Giles and Buffy both let out simultaneous groans. He threw his weapon back in the chest as Buffy left her post at the front door, sitting down on the couch with a flop. Willow led Tara to an armchair and let her sit down. Giles felt sorry for the girl; he didn't know Tara well, but she wasn't used to the threat of constant horrible death. At least not yet. He noticed Willow shooting Anya a look that could have melted ice. She definitely didn't have a high tolerance for the ex-demon.

"So, how did you guys like it?"

Giles sighed wearily as he removed his glasses from his face and rubbed his eyes.

"Like what, Anya?"  
"The April Fool's prank! Did I do it alright?"

"Alright? Yes, it was alright. Other than the heart attack you almost gave me, it was splendid."

Giles shared an eye roll with Buffy as he sat down on the couch beside her. Anya, apparently having taken his praise at face value, hummed a happy tune as she went into the kitchen to root around for something from the refrigerator. Giles took a few moments to calm himself down. Anya's choice of April Fool's prank _was_ strangely appropriate, considering why he had called the meeting.

"I actually did ask all of you here to talk about Faith," he said. "Have any of you heard anything more about her since she disappeared?"

"Isn't that _your_ job, Mr. Watcher?" asked Buffy.

"I'd like to think it's a team effort, Buffy. But no, I haven't heard much of anything."

Willow nodded in agreement. "I've been keeping an eye on police records," she said. "Nothing's popped up yet."

"Well, I suppose that's good news, in a way. I would think that if she wanted to bother us anymore, she'd have come back by now. Perhaps we won't be hearing from her anytime soon."

"Don't jinx it, Giles."

"Sorry."

"What about Adam? Anything on him yet?"

Giles shrugged his eyebrows haplessly. "I'm afraid not, Willow. He and Faith both seem to be in the habit of threatening us and then disappearing."

"Giles!"

The sharp exclamation made Giles jump in his seat a little, as he was still on edge after the false Faith alarm. Anya was standing at the bottom of the stairway going up to the second floor of his home; she had been in the kitchen earlier, but apparently she had wandered off without Giles noticing where she went. She had an alarmed expression on her face as she glanced upstairs and back at them.

"Giles, you know that glass figurine on your bedroom shelf, that looks sort of like a snake person holding two gongs in its hands? I accidentally knocked it off the shelf and broke it on the floor, and some kind of weird mist went up into the air. I'm so sorry!"

Giles leaped up from the couch in alarm.

"The Idol of Naga'thun? Anya, do you realize what you've _done_? We must all get out of the house, right-"

His speech cut off as he looked down and noticed Buffy, still sitting on the couch, but giving Anya a strange expression. As he looked back at Anya, her look of alarm broke into a smile for the second time within minutes. Giles felt his eye begin to twitch uncontrollably. _Not again_, he thought. Clearly, he was far too gullible.

"I knew it was an Idol of Naga'thun as soon as I saw it up there," laughed Anya. "It's not broken, don't worry. April Fools! Was that one better?"

Giles sat down on the couch again as he tried to restrain his anger. He noticed Willow's fists clenching and unclenching. Another April Fool's joke from Anya and he might have to restrain Willow from doing something rash. He took a deep breath and addressed Anya as calmly as possible.

"Anya, maybe we could stop with the April Fool's jokes, just for today?"

"But why? Isn't that the point of today? It's what you humans do, isn't it?"

Tara gave her a confused look. "You don't know what humans do for April Fool's Day? Haven't you picked it up by now?"

"Okay, I know what it is, but I just wanted to practice it. You guys keep telling me I need to act more human or some such nonsense, don't you? I'm getting into the spirit!"

Giles gave her a nod of understanding. He supposed he could see where she was coming from. "Anya," he said, "I'm glad that you're taking such an interest in today, but usually April Fool's jokes are not meant to terrify their targets. It's supposed to be more harmless fun."

"Harmless? But nobody's been harmed. I was joking, you know. Faith isn't coming. Probably not, anyway. And let's be realistic, if she really wanted to take us by surprise, she could probably just break in and kill us anytime Buffy wasn't paying attention, and there's really nothing we can-"

"Okay, okay," said Buffy. "Let's just get back to the meeting."

Giles had to agree. Before they could get back to their unexpected lack of enemies, however, the doorbell rang. He got up to answer it; even though Anya had been joking about Faith, he hesitated a moment before turning the knob. Fortunately, it was just Xander and Riley.

"Hey guys," said Xander as the two of them came into the living room. "The boys have arrived!"

Buffy gave her boyfriend a smile as he sat down on the couch beside her. Giles noticed Riley had taken his spot, but he didn't really mind.

"What's in that box?" asked Anya as she noticed the box Xander was carrying.

"Oh, this? It's a present. For you!"

Anya's face brightened at the news. "Really? A present for me?"

"Yeah, go ahead and open it!"

Needing no invitation, Anya snatched the box from her boyfriend's hands and ripped off the top. Everyone else in the room began to crane their necks to see what was inside.

"_AAAAAAAAGH!_"

Heads which had been leaning forward in curiosity jerked back immediately as Anya let out a deafening screech, throwing the box wildly into the air. Although no one could quite make out what fell from the box, something white and fluffy dropped onto the ground. Before they could look closer, Anya rushed forward and stomped mercilessly on it with both feet.

"Anya, calm down!" said Buffy. "What's going on? What was in the box?"

Xander had stepped back in terror; apparently his present did not have the expected effect.

Buffy tried to hold Anya back from further stomping. "What's going on? What was in the box?"

Anya finally stepped back from the object she had been stamping into the carpeted floor of Giles' living room. The Scooby Gang gathered closer to look at it. Tara and Willow both gasped in shock for a moment, but Buffy realized it was not what they were thinking. She couldn't help smiling at Xander's little present.

It was a bunny rabbit. But not a real real one.

"April Fools?" said Xander, his voice trailing off nervously.

"Xander Harris! I can't believe you! What would make you _do_ such a thing?"

"Anya, it was just a joke! I thought you'd see it, and I'd tell you it was our new pet, and we'd both have a laugh! Funny haha, that kind of thing!"

Giles raised an incredulous eyebrow. Apparently, Xander had underestimated his girlfriend's distaste for bunnies. Judging by her costume last Halloween, Giles couldn't say he was very surprised at Anya's reaction to the stuffed bunny.

"A _joke_?" cried Anya. "You think that's _funny_, Xander? Well, you know what else is funny?"

Xander gulped.

"Clowns?" he offered. "I mean, not to me, but-"

"I'm breaking up with you!"

The rest of the room stood awkwardly, as most of them had leaped up from their seats at Anya's unexpectedly hysterical reaction to Xander's April Fool's joke. As Xander gaped at his girlfriend, the tension in the air grew thick enough to be stabbed with a sharp stake.

"That's right! I'm going back to your house to pick up my things!"

Before Xander could form a response, Anya stormed out of the room and slammed the front door behind her. The rest of the gang stared at the door in shock for a moment before gradually returning to their seats. Riley gave Xander a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as he stood stock still, apparently trying to process what had just happened.

"Um, I'm gonna go talk to her," he said. "You mind if I ditch this meeting, Giles?"

Giles sat down in a chair, since Riley had taken his spot on the couch, and took his glasses off again so he could massage his temples and stave off his now inevitable headache. "Yes, that's fine," he said. "I suppose we didn't have much to talk about, anyway. No news on Faith or Adam."

"That's great," said Xander. "See you guys later."

"Bye Xander," said the girls in unison. Giles could see that they were feeling sympathetic after the scene they had just witnessed. Personally, he wasn't sure if he had any sympathy. Playing an April Fool's joke on Anya was probably a bad idea, even if bunnies _weren't_ involved in any way. He was about to get back to the meeting when Willow and Tara exchanged a strange look with each other.

"Hey Giles," said Willow, "you said we didn't really have much to talk about, right?"

"Yes, I suppose I did."

"Any chance me and Tara could bail on you? We have, uh, some things to do. School things."

"Schoolwork," agreed Tara. "We're swamped."

Giles sighed. "Very well. Off you go."

The two girls rushed out of the house. Giles had never seen anyone in such a hurry to do their homework; even Willow, and Giles had long since known that girl was surprisingly enthusiastic about homework. He looked at his two remaining guests, Buffy and Riley.

"Tea?" he asked.

Riley nodded. "Sure."

"Tea us up, Giles."

Giles got up and went into the kitchen and pulled out a few cups and saucers, turning up the stove as he got ready to put a tea kettle on. He was still thinking about how quickly Willow and Tara had left. It was a little odd, somehow. "Those two seem to be getting along very well, don't they?" he called into the other room.

"Who, Willow and Tara?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, they seem like pretty good friends now. I'm a little jealous sometimes."

Giles smiled at Buffy's comment. Tara did seem like a nice girl, but he didn't think Buffy had much to worry about in terms of falling out of touch with Willow. He supposed they would have to welcome Tara into the Scooby Gang soon, as Xander liked to call them. If only they had some kind of secret handshake.

The tea kettle began to whistle as Giles waited for it to finish, grabbing a few crackers from a cupboard while he was at it. After having been pushed to the brink of a heart attack three times in a row by Anya, he thought maybe it would be a good idea to brew some tea and take a tray out with a few refreshments for the rest of their little group before they resumed their meeting. Not that it was really much of a meeting. Giles just liked to keep up on any new developments. And, he had to admit, sometimes he got a little lonely in his apartment. At least as a librarian, he had the occasional student wandering in who didn't realize where they were going.

He prepared the refreshments and returned to the living room, tray in hand, as he thought about Xander and Anya's little tiff. Anya definitely concerned him more than Tara did. He doubted Tara was hiding any secrets from them – it was certainly doubtful that she was a demon, for instance. But they all knew full well what _Anya_ was. He couldn't deny his concern, but then, she _did_ seem to be trying.

He placed the tray on the coffee table as Buffy and Riley grabbed their cups. Giles took his own and blew on it a little before taking a sip. Despite his reservations towards her, he couldn't help hoping that she and Xander would make up after their little fight.

Maybe Anya wasn't a perfect human being. But then, who was?

XX

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_Notes - That's it for chapter 2. Is anyone actually reading this?_


	3. Chapter 3

A bouquet of flowers trembled in one hand as Xander shakily ran the other through his hair.

_ Wait_, he thought. _Why am I trying to make my hair look good?_

He began to feel a little silly, standing in front of his own front door as if he was a nervous teen about to ask a crush out on a date. He _was_ a nervous teen, that much was true, but his frayed nerves were coming more from uncertainty about just how seriously Anya had taken their little mix up back at Giles' house. She had said she was going back to his place to pick up her things. Although he had been hot on her heels, Xander had stopped by a corner store as quickly as possible to pick up some flowers by way of apology once he caught up to her. Now that he was in standing on his front porch, Xander couldn't help wondering if she had left him already. Or if she was lying in wait to destroy him.

"Come on, Harris," he told himself as he tried to summon the willpower to take a step forward. "You're being ridiculous. Just a bunny boo boo, that's all that was!"

Seconds passed into minutes, but finally Xander summoned the courage to turn the knob.

Gently... slowly... can't make too much noise, just in case...

The door creaked open, and Xander stepped inside to look around. Almost immediately, he could tell his parents weren't home. That was a little strange. They had been there when he left early in the morning for construction, and his dad usually wasn't the type to move from the couch unless he had a pressing need to go to the bathroom, or – more rarely – somewhere else. Maybe Anya had stormed into the house and told them to scram. Maybe she had scared them off.

Maybe she had eaten them.

The thought made Xander let out a laugh which rang loudly through the quiet house. Sometimes his imagination just went crazy, no doubt about it. As he tiptoed through the house to make sure his parents weren't home, he felt all his conflicting feelings roiling around like a whirlpool in his stomach, tugging him down. Embarrassment at how badly he had miscalculated his April Fool's prank; worry over just how upset he had made her; fear that she might actually leave him. And, finally, fear that Anya might do something much worse.

It was strange that he was so afraid of confronting Anya. She had overreacted, sure, but it was ridiculous to think she would revert to her old, demonic ways, just because of a prank. Wasn't it? Maybe his fear was coming from somewhere else. He and Anya hadn't been going out for very long. To be honest, he wasn't quite sure what to think of their relationship yet - if it even _was_ a relationship. He knew that was what she considered it to be. As he thought about it, he knew it was true; a big part of his fear _was_ the fear that she might leave him. Somehow it surprised him.

The house was definitely empty, but Xander hadn't gone into the basement yet, which was where Anya would be if she was still around. The door leading to the basement stairway hung ajar; just as he reached it, he heard a shuffling sound coming from downstairs. He paused.

"Anya? Is that you?"

No answer.

There was nothing left to do but face his fate. Xander gulped as he placed his foot on the first step, peering down into the dim light of his below-ground living space. He couldn't see anything, but he had definitely _heard_ something.

Xander felt a stab of guilt about hesitating so much; he did like Anya, and he was liking her more and more as time went on, but he couldn't shake his doubts sometimes. It was hard to forget about her past, after all. And sometimes she didn't do the greatest job of convincing everyone that her days of vengeance were truly behind her. But he knew that, as a boyfriend, he had to take that leap of faith. He had to trust her; hopefully Anya had just reacted badly to the fake bunny gag, and they would work it out.

He didn't want to think about what the alternative might be.

XX

Anya sat quietly on Xander's bed, where she had been sitting cross-legged for the last few minutes. She had gotten to her boyfriend's house not long ago, just as Xander's mother was dragging his drunken father out the door so they could go to one of those silly meetings people always had when they drank too much. Back when she was a vengeance demon, Anya had dealt with a lot of women with husbands who had the same problems Mr. Harris seemed to have. Mrs. Harris could easily have been one of Anya's old human clients if she hadn't quit the business of vengeance.

She remembered pulling off a few amusing curses involving alcohol on some deadbeat husbands in times long since past. One man had gotten a permanent hangover for his bad attitude and all his late night carousing. Not as flashy as burnt flesh or torn entrails, but even a permanent hangover was enough to drive someone insane, given enough time. Sometimes the wives were the ones with the alcohol and marital problems, of course, but as the Patron Saint of Scorned Women, scorned men weren't any of her concern. And personally, she thought it was usually the men causing the problems anyway.

A sound coming from upstairs interrupted Anya's reminiscing on past vengeance. Someone had entered the house. As she listened, footsteps traipsed their way through the first floor rooms for several moments, and she got off the bed to prepare herself when her boyfriend's voice floated down into the basement.

"Anya? Is that you?"

She almost answered him, but she wanted to keep the element of surprise. A few moments later, footsteps began to patter down the basement stairway, one after the other, as Anya waited for her boyfriend to come into view. When he did, she twisted her face into a grotesque mask of rage.

"_Xander!_" she screamed. "It's about time!"

Her boyfriend stood at the foot of the basement steps, looking at his girlfriend with a horrified expression. The bouquet of flowers he was holding in his hand flew up to his face, as if he was trying to shield himself from whatever he was anticipating. Anya smiled; it was exactly the reaction she was hoping for.

"Anya, look, I can explain-"

"There's no explaining, Xander Harris! I summoned D'Hoffryn and told him I wanted to get back into vengeance!"

"No," said Xander, his fear turning to horror. "No, you couldn't have!"

"I could and I did! Anyanka's back in business, baby. And now it's time for you to pay for that little stunt you pulled on me Giles' house. Say goodbye to Xander Junior," said Anya as she whipped her hands around in a theatrical fashion before pointing a finger straight at her boyfriend's crotch. "_Reducto Phallosia!_"

Xander screamed as he dropped his hands down, trying to protect his crotch with the flower bouquet, and Anya cackled gleefully as she cast her spell.

At least, she would have cast her spell, if she hadn't been making the whole thing up. She grinned as the two of them stood silently in the basement, Xander's mouth opened wide and frozen in a sort of silent scream. He was hunched over in a defensive posture, but after a moment, he began to straighten out.

"What... what the-"

"April Fools!"

Anya rushed forward to give her boyfriend a playful slap on the shoulder before grabbing the flower bouquet from his paralyzed hand. Xander seemed to be in shock, although he flinched for a second when she slapped him.

"That was all a joke?" he said. "Xander Junior is... he's okay?"

"Hopefully," said Anya. "You'd be much less fun if I actually cast that spell. But yes, it was all a joke! I think I'm getting much better at that."

Anya returned to her boyfriend's bed and sat down with a flop, smelling the flowers he had bought her. She felt herself bounce in the air again, just a little bit, as her boyfriend cooled down enough to come over and take a seat on the mattress beside her.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "That whole scene at Giles' house was a setup?"

Anya nodded cheerfully. "Willow told me yesterday that she heard you were going to play an April Fool's Day prank on me involving a bunny. Apparently she thought I might have some kind of overblown reaction to pranks, so she warned me ahead of time. You told Buffy, Buffy told Willow, Willow told me," she added after noting her boyfriend's confused stare. "So I thought I'd wait for you to pull your prank and then get you back!"

"So you weren't really upset about the fake bunny?"

"Oh no, I was upset. It terrified me. I tried to be ready for it, but the reaction was genuine. Please never do that again."

"Gotcha."

Xander breathed a sigh of relief and flopped down on the bed. Anya looked around for a vase where she could put the flowers, but she didn't see any in the basement. Still, she was happy to have them. It definitely seemed like something good boyfriends should give. She set them down over by the phone and then returned to the bed, flopping down beside her boyfriend with a sigh to match his own.

"You know," said Xander, "April Fool's pranks aren't supposed to terrify people."

Anya frowned at his claim. "Giles said something like that, too. But I don't understand – when I heard you were going to buy me a fake bunny and say it was a new pet we'd keep in the basement, wasn't that meant to be terrifying?"

"Uh, point taken. I probably shoulda seen that coming. But I guess I didn't realize you hated bunnies _that_ much."

Anya shuddered at the thought. There had been entirely too much talk about bunnies lately. Other than that, however, it had been an interesting day. She felt like she had been learning at least a little. Feeling a little more comfortable in her new self, as restrictive as it could feel sometimes.

"I got an idea," said Xander. "How about, from now on, our April Fool's Day tradition can be that we don't play any pranks on each other at all. What do you say?"

Anya considered the proposal. It didn't seem like it fit with the spirit of the day, but if that was what her boyfriend wanted, she was happy to go along with it. As long as it made him happy. She nodded in agreement and drew herself a little closer to Xander, wrapping her arms around him. She also noted that Xander had talked about future April Fool's Days, which meant that he was anticipating a long relationship. That was good, she thought. Obviously, he was completely committed. As she lay close to her boyfriend, hands clutching at his warm body, Anya began to feel a few of those pesky human flickers of desire that had driven her back to Sunnydale to come find him.

"Your parents were here earlier," she said. "I told them that we'd probably have sex down here shortly, so they shouldn't interrupt us. But they went out anyway, so we'll have some private time."

Her boyfriend groaned, although Anya wasn't sure why.

"What's wrong? You don't want to have sex?"

"No, just that you told – nothing, never mind. Um, maybe later, Anya. Right now I'm still trying to get my heart rate back to normal. Maybe we could just lay here for now."

"And cuddle?"

"Sure. And cuddle."

Anya was fine with that. She gave her boyfriend a little squeeze and sighed as she thought about her day. It had been an interesting day, although there were a lot of interesting days when Xander and his circle of friends were involved. She had seen a lot in her time as a vengeance demon, but most humans definitely didn't get involved with the kinds of things Xander and his friends did on a regular basis. Thanks to Buffy, she supposed.

"Do you think they like me, Xander?"

"Who?"

"Your friends."

Xander looked up at the ceiling as he pondered the question.

"Why, are you worried about that?"

"I don't know. I worry that I'm not fitting in sometimes. I was trying to play along with this April Fool's Day thing you all do all the time, but you guys all told me I wasn't doing it right. And sometimes Willow gives me these suspicious looks after I say something, and I never know why!"

Xander chuckled. "Well, you have to give it time, sweetie. You were a vengeance demon for such a long time-"

"But I'm not anymore!"

"I know that. They just need some time to know that too. You're trying, and everyone can see that."

Anya smiled at her boyfriend's reassurance. She _was_ trying.

"And besides, you know other people can feel the way you do sometimes. Tara's new to the gang, and I'm sure she feels a little nervous about being accepted into the group. And it's been hard for me, living here in the basement, when Buffy and Willow are both off doing the college thing. We just gotta make sure we don't drift apart, right? As long as we keep trying and stick together, things will work out."

Anya looked around at their unattractive surroundings and wrinkled her nose. "You _do_ need to move out of this basement," she said.

"Right. Anyway, they'll warm up to you soon enough, just wait. And in the meantime, you've got me. I like you just the way you are. Okay?"

"Okay."

As her boyfriend drew closer to give her a reassuring hug, Anya felt herself squished by his arms a little, but she didn't mind. Xander did have a point; she had been noticing that his friends didn't always pay enough attention to him, just like they didn't with her. But that was okay. It meant she got more of his attention. She was definitely glad she had come back after Sunnydale High School was destroyed and used her feminine wiles to seduce him. It had been almost too easy. A lot easier than understanding April Fool's Day, anyway. They didn't have that back in Sweden, when she was still Aud.

Then again, Aud had changed into Anyanka so long ago, it was difficult to remember how anything worked as a human being, and that wasn't even considering all the ridiculous little details of human society that had changed since then. But that was okay. It came as a great surprise to her after her dealings with human males as a vengeance demon, but Xander was actually good for more than just sex. When it came to the whole human thing, he was there for her. She knew she could count on him to help her figure it all out.

XX

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_Notes - That's it for this story, hope you guys liked it. This is my first Buffy story, but I do have a couple of Angel stories up in case anyone reading is interested in checking them out. Thanks for the reviews!_

_I suppose it's a little weird finishing an April Fool's Day story on April 4th. I meant to write the whole thing as a one-shot and post it on April 1st, but I first got the idea while I was at work that day, and I didn't get back until evening. I managed to write much of the story before midnight but realized it wouldn't be finished in time, and it felt wrong to post an April Fool's one-shot after the day in question, so I divided it into three chapters (although the third wasn't written yet) to make sure it at least started on the appropriate day. More than anyone wanted to know, I'm sure. :-p_

_It was fun to write Anya - I wanted to have at least one scene in the story from her perspective. One thing that slowed me down at first was trying to figure out exactly where people were in terms of relationships at the point I wanted to place the story in season 4, since I was placing it where April 1st actually occurred in the show. I was finding it hard to remember just where Willow and Tara were in their relationship, how public it was, whether Riley knew about Buffy's past relationship with Angel, etc, and for some reason they were a bit hard to look up. Weird how little details like that often end up being maddening, hehe. I should have just watched the episodes on DVD for "research", hehe._

_Okay, these author's notes are getting ridiculous. Bye!_


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